Billy Mays

Granted, his voice we might not ever forget, because it has been yelled into our heads for years. Can't think of oxy clean, without picturing him.... but such is life, we live, we die, and we hope we impacted the world in some way.

As far as I'm concerned, he put the "Who" in "Who gives a shit!", though if your version of hell was having to watch infomercials for the rest of eternity, your day just got a shitload longer... "Jesus Saves..........But Esposito Scores On The Rebound!!!"

He was pretty fucking annoying. However his death made me realize how boring infomericals are without him yelling at you like a jackass.

Billy makes us appreciate Genshu knives and vegamatic juice makers. He toiled the county fair - community festival circuit 20 years before a TV hawkster noticed Mays attracted crowds 10 deep to the other sellers three and four couples. Mays was enticed to late night TV bits, fame and I hope fortune. Not as obnoxious as the "Sham-wow" guy, but (r.i.p.) plenty obnoxious. I avoid TV in a home full of TV addicts. Each time I passed through the living room, Mays was on...he passed in the string of those famous celebs to show up on the Internet. But for his age, 50, I'd not of noticed the obit. As I pass through the living room these days, Mays lives, hawking cleanser, vitameatavegamin, and shit I need but resist. He and Sham-wow will duel until Direct TV is replaced by a better delivery device. Billy Mays, gone but never to be foregotten. How can we miss him?

Mr. Mays and family were building a house a couple of miles up from me on Lake Robinson. I never met him, but from all acounts he was a very nice guy. I feel for his family...and I can also say that I will not miss his damned irritating commercials. Every used car dealership in the US hires someone to yell that way; so I fail to see what was so special about him. (Sorry Billy...RIP)

Celebs are dropping faster than Brisol Palin's panties in the backseat of a gas-guzzilng SUV parked behind the one movie theater in Alaska. . . Mays shrill salesmanship made him one of the more irritating yet unoffensive icons. .. I would rather chew glass than buy any one of his products (all of them can allegedly spit the atom and cure cancer - and you get another one free!) What I did like about Mays was that he seemed to be in on the joke- his self-parodying ESPN commercials are pretty damn funny ("I'm not a strong reader!") suggest that Mays knew who he was and had few pretensions about himself. That alone's worth 3 stars. Hey, unlike other dead celebs he wasn't on a pinup, slept with kids, or surgically attempted to alter his race! Quite the boring celeb death if you ask me. . .

Yah, I'm devastated. A week before he died, I ordered some OxyJizz. The "operator standing by" supersized me and I missed the "But, Wait! There's more!" part of the infomercial and was clueless when I got home and found, not one, but two orange, 55 gallon drums with giant skulls and crossbones on them blocking my garage door. Now he's dead and no one is answering the phones. And damn if those informercials were taped and it was Billy answering the phones (heard he was inhaling that nitrous oxide stuff to disguise his voice. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. OR ANY BANK!

i did not really buy his products except okiclean but i still miss him

As informed as I like to think of myself as being, I never heard of this guy until they began promoting his TV show on cable recently. At first, I thought they were talking about the guy who played the Robot on "Lost In Space". Probably I've heard his annoying voice a million times trying to sell me crap I don't need, but as much as possible, I try to tune out commercials, any commercials. I'm sorry he died early, but then I'm sorry that Janet Steiner in Towaco died, or that Larry Eccles in Montana died, or the Billy Morgan in Delray Beach died, or that...

This guy's demise matters even less to me than Michael Jackson's. Actually given the fact that it means there is temporarily one less supremely annoying huckster in the world, maybe it matters a little more. The way things are going here on RIA, if Bernie Madoff or O.J. Simpson croaked tomorrow, I'd expect to read reviews on here singing their praises.

Although it's unfortunate for any kind of death to arise, I cannot say that I will miss Billy Mays.

Although I've always muted Billy's commercials and never cared to buy any of his products, there is a part of me that feels bad that he passed away, and for the loved ones he left behind. As loud as he was on TV, it was more than likely just an act, and he may have been a nice person. But no one ever knows because with the exceptions of his commercials, he wasn't well-known for much of anything else.

Thanks to my nocturnal TV viewing habits I've seen this guy and I always found him a little irritating. That being said, I'd just assume the Sham-wow guy died instead...

It's the best thing that could have happened to his legacy. He went from irritating huckster to one of the honoured dead simply by virtue of his well timed departure. If he had died on a week when we were not so focused on celebrity mortality, there would have been little more than a passing mention deep in the entertainment section of the paper.

Personally I'll miss his late night Oxy Clean commercials. The constant yelling and over the top voice instantly made me believe any product he pitched worked. His reality show Pitchmen wasn't bad either.

I hate to admit it, but I kind of liked this guy. The dude could have sold ice cubes to Eskimos and sand to Bedouins. What will his next gig be? "Billy Mays here! Welcome to the afterworld! You need 'The Guide for the Recently Departed' to find your way around here! Souls big and small, the guide helps them all!"

Yelled at a screen and made more money than I will ever see in a lifetime. My heart goes out to his family. I'll pay close attention to those oxyclean commwercials now.

I'm bummed about Billy Mays. That guy was pretty cool. Just a few weeks ago, I added him to a 'people you would want to hang out with' list. I really liked it when he would do skits on the Tonight Show, like when President Obama had a press conference, and Billy Mays would stand up, 'Mr. President, Billy Mays here.....' Anyway, for something really hilarious, there is a clip on youtube where Billy orders food from McDonald's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtYdDK1uTDI It's hilarious.

OKAY-first of all-he was the same age as Michael Jackson-how bizarre that he died only 4 days after MJ-actually-I remember waiting for more news on MJ's passing on TV and sure enough -here was a Billy Mays Oxyclean commercial! I thought-MJ's gone, but life goes on-here is Billy Mays-then he dies-very strange indeed. Well Michael Jackson is at the pearly gates rattling and screaming, "let me in, let me in!" when suddenly here comes a familiar bearded face-Hi I'm Billy Mays...MJ-oh I know you-the Oxyclean guy-heh, do you have any on you-Oxyclean? It has done wonders on my skin-uh-see how white my skin is? BM-uh , yeah...MJ can you do me a favor, they won't let me into heaven. BM -sure, I'll just talk to St. Peter for you. A few minutes later-OK, they'll let you in now. Yes, Billy Mays is probably up there right now, selling Orange Glow to God!, (heaven looks a little dingy, but...) Dare I say also, of all the famous personalities who died this year, he may be either the most influential... Read more

Billy Mays was as D-list as they come, but with his new reality show Pitchmen he seemed to be gaining some more notoriety. I don't think people really paid much attention to him, but he was just there. His look and his voice were pretty recognizable to anybody who watches late-night TV, but I don't think I'll miss him. Sad to see another sudden death, especially as one as weird as his seems to be.

Not really a Celebrity, but the Timing is weird. Its not even July yet and a lot of Famous people have already kicked it.

It was kind of nice to see that this guy wasn't the raving maniac he played on TV before he died. It would have also been interesting to see where he would have gone with that reality show thing he was just getting into. I'm sorry for him and his loved ones that he was cut down so suddenly. I almost feel a weensie bit guilty for all the times I wanted to slap him to sleep when his commercials would blast their way into my home.

This was another suprise to me. From what I have seen, he was on a plane that blew a tire while landing in Tampa Bay, and some stuff hit him on the head. He was interviewed after the plane landing and he said "I got a hard head." Apparently it wasn't hard enough. I really think the stuff hitting him on the head had to do with his death, but mabye not, it could of been somethingt completely differnt that was just a coinicidence.